Inside Trump's newly resumed private fundraisers, where supporters pay $250,000 and submit to a COVID-19 test to spend an hour with the president
- President Donald Trump has resumed hosting in-person fundraising events after taking a three-month break because of the coronavirus pandemic.
- A Trump-affiliated fundraising committee held an outdoor event for 15 donors, who each paid $250,000 to spend time with the president at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
- Trump also attended a $10 million fundraiser at the home of Dakota Access oil pipeline billionaire Kelcy Warren in Dallas on Wednesday.
While former Vice President Joe Biden rallies supporters over Zoom, President Donald Trump has jumped back on the in-person campaign trail.
Trump hosted two small, high-dollar fundraisers in the past week for major donors after three months off because of the coronavirus pandemic. The most recent event, which was held in an outdoor space at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey on Saturday, cost $250,000 per guest, per NJ.com. The $33 million private club, which is located 45 miles north of New York City, boasts 36 holes of golf, tennis courts, a 25-meter pool, and three dining areas.
Before entering the event at Bedminster, all 15 guests had to be tested for the coronavirus, fill out a wellness questionnaire, and have their temperatures checked earlier that day, according to NJ.com. Trump's fundraising committee covered the cost of the tests, and the site was professionally sanitized before the event.
The coronavirus testing requirement for the fundraising events stands in stark contrast with Trump's approach to testing the general public
Trump said Monday that there would be very few cases of the coronavirus if the US stopped its testing and contact-tracing measures, even as multiple states report 100% increases in new coronavirus cases.
Donald J. Trump for President did not respond to Business Insider's request for further information or comment on the fundraising events.
The Bedminister event alone raised $3 million for Trump Victory, a $160 million fundraising committee that benefits the president's campaign, the Republican National Committee, and several state GOP chapters, The New York Post reported.
The president's first fundraiser after the break, prior to Saturday's event, was an hour-long dinner held at the Dallas home of Kelcy Warren, the billionaire behind the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline; it took place on June 11, NBC DFW reported. About 25 people attended that event, while several dozen people, including protesters, gathered outside. Admittance to that event cost $580,6000 per couple, raising an estimated $10 million, per NBC DFW.
"There is definitely pent-up excitement for in-person fundraisers," Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens told The New York Post.
The exclusive fundraisers aren't the only in-person events presently on Trump's calendar. The president is slated to speak at a campaign rally in Tulsa on Saturday. The event was originally scheduled for the day before, but Trump postponed it following criticism that it was insensitive to campaign on Juneteenth, a day commemorating the end of slavery in the US.
Attendees at that rally will be required to sign waivers acknowledging that they "voluntarily assume all risks" and therefore cannot hold the Trump campaign or its affiliates liable if they contract COVID-19 at the event.